Reconciliation deal hailed by Palestinian factions, irks Israel, U.S.

GAZA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party and the Hamas movement on Wednesday announced a reconciliation agreement on ending their seven-year internal split.

The agreement, largely hailed by Palestinian factions, "disappointed" and irked Israel and the United States, both of which have branded the Hamas movement as a terrorist group.

The timing of the deal was "troubling" and the United States is "disappointed" by the announcement, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a press conference Wednesday.

"This could seriously complicate our efforts -- not just our efforts, but the efforts between the parties, more importantly, to extend the negotiations," Psaki said.

U.S.-brokered peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians are approaching the April 29 deadline without a resolution in sight.

Israeli negotiators have informed their Palestinian counterparts that they have called off a meeting scheduled for Wednesday night in protest of the Palestinian deal.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abbas needs to choose whether he wants peace with Israel or the Hamas movement, stressing that only one of these options is attainable.

Instead of making peace with Israel, Abbas is moving forward to reconcile with Hamas, Israel Radio quoted Netanyahu as saying.

The Israeli prime minister added that his government is working to extend the ongoing peace negotiations with the Palestinians beyond the April 29 deadline, accusing Abbas of adding new conditions that Israel cannot accept every time both sides get close.

The reconciliation agreement does not at all contradict the peace talks with Israel, Abbas responded.

"It is in the Palestinian people's interests to restore unity of land and unity of people," and "this unity will boost the establishment of the Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital," said Abbas in an emailed statement Wednesday.

He clarified that the inter-Palestinian reconciliation "is backed by the Arab states and the international community, and will boost the position of the Palestinian negotiators to achieve the two-state solution."

Azzam el-Ahmad, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) delegation to the dialogue with Hamas told reporters that "the talks are stalled due to the Israeli refusal to free the prisoners and freeze settlement activities, and the reconciliation has nothing to do with the talks."

Under the Palestinian agreement, Abbas' Fatah party and the Hamas movement would start discussions to form a unity government within five weeks and hold general parliamentary and presidential elections within six months.

The new deal is the outcome of two days of intensive discussions between Hamas officials and a prominent delegation representing the PLO.

"The Palestinian internal division has gone once and forever," Ismail Haneya, prime minister of Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip, told reporters in a joint press conference with Abbas' representatives in Gaza City.

The Hamas prime minister said the new deal mainly focuses on implementing previous reconciliation agreements signed in Egypt in 2011 and Qatar in 2012.

Right after signing the agreement at Haneya's house, dozens of young men took to the streets and gathered at the square of the Unknown Soldier in Gaza City, waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans saying "the people want to end division."

Since the beginning of the Palestinian rift in 2007 when Hamas took over Gaza, Hamas and Fatah movements have reached several deals on forming a unity government to prepare for new elections.

However, none of those deals were implemented in the past as Hamas insisted that no elections could be held before controversial issues were resolved.

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The United States said on Wednesday that it is "disappointed" by the reconciliation agreement between two main Palestinian factions, which could " seriously" complicate peace efforts.

Under the Palestinian agreement that would end a seven-year internal rift, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party and the Hamas movement would start discussions to form a unity government within five weeks. Full story